Konami has unveiled the highly anticipated remake of the iconic Silent Hill 2, developed by Bloober Team, now available for PC users. This reimagining harnesses the power of Unreal Engine 5, inviting gamers to delve into its haunting atmosphere while we take a closer look at its performance metrics.
Performance Benchmarks
For our performance analysis, we utilized a robust setup featuring an AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D processor, complemented by 32GB of DDR5 RAM clocked at 6000MHz. The graphics cards tested included a range from AMD’s Radeon RX580 to the formidable RX 7900XTX, alongside NVIDIA’s GTX980Ti, RTX 2080Ti, RTX 3080, and the powerhouse RTX 4090. Our testing environment ran on Windows 10 64-bit, utilizing the GeForce 565.90 and Radeon Adrenalin Edition 24.9.1 drivers, with the second CCD on the 7950X3D disabled for optimal performance.
Silent Hill 2 Remake offers an array of customizable graphics settings, allowing players to adjust textures, shadows, shaders, and effects to their liking. Notably, the game includes options for colorblind modes, motion blur, and even a nostalgic 90s filter. Additionally, it supports advanced technologies such as Ray Tracing, NVIDIA DLSS 3, AMD FSR 3.0, and Intel XeSS, which can be explored in further detail in a separate article.
As the game lacks a built-in benchmark tool, we opted to assess performance in the starting area, known for its demanding graphical requirements. Our findings indicate that Silent Hill 2 Remake is predominantly GPU-bound. The NVIDIA RTX 4090 showcased its capabilities, achieving approximately 200fps at Native 1080p with low settings, with GPU utilization peaking at 98%. This suggests that most players will experience GPU limitations rather than CPU constraints.
Resolution Performance Insights
At 1080p with Epic Settings and without Ray Tracing, a GPU equivalent to the NVIDIA RTX 3080 is necessary for optimal performance. The game appears to favor NVIDIA hardware, as evidenced by the RTX 3080 outperforming the AMD Radeon RX 6900XT across all resolutions. Interestingly, our tests revealed consistent crashes on the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64, although other AMD GPUs performed without issues.
Moving to 1440p with Epic Settings, the AMD Radeon RX 7900XTX provided a generally smooth experience, with minor frame drops below 60fps that would likely go unnoticed on a FreeSync monitor. In contrast, the NVIDIA RTX 4090 maintained a steady frame rate exceeding 80fps throughout the gameplay.
When testing at Native 4K with Epic Settings, none of the GPUs managed to sustain 60fps, which aligns with expectations given the game’s reliance on Lumen technology, a form of Ray Tracing. However, the game’s scalability allows older GPUs to perform adequately through its in-game graphics settings. For instance, at Native 4K, the RTX 4090 achieved over 65fps consistently at the High preset, marking a significant performance increase of 30-40%. Further reductions to Medium and Low settings yielded additional performance boosts of 14% and 50%, respectively.
Visuals and Gameplay Experience
Visually, Silent Hill 2 Remake is a stunning achievement. Bloober Team has masterfully recreated the game’s environments using Unreal Engine 5, making it one of the few titles to utilize Hardware Lumen on PC. The result is a breathtakingly immersive experience, showcasing the graphical capabilities of modern gaming PCs. However, one critique arises regarding the fog effects; many feel they could be denser to enhance the eerie atmosphere that the original game is known for.
It is worth noting that in-engine cutscenes are capped at 30fps, which disrupts the flow between gameplay and cinematic moments. Additionally, players may encounter traversal stutters, particularly in urban areas, though these are not deemed significant deal-breakers. Fortunately, the game avoids shader compilation stutters, as the initial launch compiles shaders in the background, ensuring smoother gameplay thereafter.
In summary, the PC version of Silent Hill 2 Remake stands as a commendable adaptation. While it may not rank among the very best PC releases, it offers a wealth of features and customization options, catering to a broad spectrum of gaming rigs. Although it presents challenges at Epic settings, players can still achieve impressive performance at High settings. The absence of support for NVIDIA Ray Reconstruction or Frame Generation is noted, yet there is potential for these features to be enabled through the Engine.ini file. The primary concern remains the traversal stutters, and while a complete fix may be unlikely, there is hope for improvements in future updates.
